TMMOB to bring Erdoğan’s lavish Ak Saray to European court; for violating Ataturk's last will.

TMMOB to bring Erdoğan’s lavish Ak Saray to European court; For violating Ataturk's last will. (HD).

The Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB) announced on Monday that it will bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights claiming the lavish presidential palace, widely dubbed the AK Saray, was "illegally" constructed inside the Atatürk Forestry Farm (AOÇ) -- an environmentally protected area where construction is not permitted.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's luxury presidential palace, which was constructed on an area of 300,000 square meters in Ankara, continues to occupy the agenda in domestic politics. In the latest in a series of press briefings, on Wednesday TMMOB Ankara branch head Tezcan Karakuş Candan accused Erdoğan of ignoring several previous court orders to halt the palace's construction.

“All the domestic remedies have been exhausted. We were not the ones who were mistreated. It was the principles of the Republic of Turkey and the historicity of the Atatürk Forestry Farm. We are facing clear unlawfulness. It is very upsetting to see that we have nothing in hand even though all of the domestic remedies have been exhausted. We will therefore take the subject to the European Court of Human Rights,” Candan stated.

Candan also noted that Atatürk had donated the AOÇ to the state on the condition that it be left open to public use, and that therefore Atatürk's will has been violated as the area is no longer being used publicly. Read the full story here.

European Court of Justice: "Homosexuality can be grounds for asylum"

European Court of Justice: "Homosexuality can be grounds for asylum".(HD).

Refugees facing imprisonment in their home country because they are gay may have grounds to be granted asylum in the European Union, the 28-nation bloc's top court ruled Thursday.

The existence of laws imprisoning homosexuals "may constitute an act of persecution per se" if they are routinely enforced, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice ruled.

A homosexual cannot be expected to conceal his sexual orientation in his home country to avoid persecution, since it would amount to renouncing a "characteristic fundamental to a person's identity," the court added.

International treaties say people must prove they have a "well-founded fear" of persecution for reasons of race, religion, ethnicity or political opinion if they are to obtain asylum.

The European court ruled on the cases of three people from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal seeking asylum in the Netherlands.

Worldwide, more than 70 countries have laws that are used to criminalize people on the basis of sexual orientation, according to the International Commission of Jurists, an advocacy group. The laws typically prohibit either certain types of sexual activity or contain a blanket ban on intimacy and sexual activity between members of the same sex.

The human rights group Amnesty International says homosexuality is "increasingly criminalized across Africa," with 36 nations there having laws against same-sex conduct. In addition, many predominantly Muslim nations like Iran, Kuwait or Afghanistan outlaw homosexuality.

In some nations, however, the laws are rarely enforced. The court said it will be up to Europe's national authorities to determine whether the situation in an applicant's home country amounts to persecution.

Some European Union member states already accept sexual orientation as a reason for granting asylum under certain circumstances, but the ECJ's ruling clarifies that policy and makes it binding for all 28 EU nations.

It still remains unclear how national authorities should check a person's claim of being homosexual. The European Court of Justice isn't expected to rule on that issue before next year.